Roof guttering

ABSTRACT

A roof gutter system constructed of plastic elements including a trough and a coupling joined together by longitudinally mating means.

I Unlted States Patent 1191 1111 3,913,284.

Hall Oct. 21, 1975 [5 ROOF GUTTERING 3,355,895 12/1967 Bayes et al 61 14 3,446,025 I 5/1969 Koch 61 14 [75] Inventor. Marshall John Hall, lngleslde, 3,611,731 12/197] Edmondson 61/14 Australla 3,670,505 6/1972 Weaver 61/14 [73] Assignee, Patent Development Pm Limited, 3,824,749 7 1974 Scherf 52 11 lngl Australia FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 22 Fil 0 15, 1973 1,143,421 2/1969 United Kingdom 52 11 1,384,771 11/1964 France 52 11 [21] Appl. N0.: 406,578

Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam [52] U.S. Cl. 52/11; 61/ 14; 52/16 Assistant Examiner-David H. C in [51] Int. Cl. E04D 13/06 Attorney, g or Firm-Gifford, Chandler & [58] Field 61 Search ..52/11,12,13,14,15, h ri n 52/16, 537; 61/14, 15 [57] ABSTRACT [56] References cued A roof gutter system constructed of plastic elements UNITED STATES PATENTS including a trough and a coupling joined together by 165,388 7/1875 Tyhurst 61/l4 longitudinally mating means. 174,281 2/1876 Moulton r 3,169,346 2/1965 Sklar 52/15 12 Clams 8 Drawmg Flgures U.S. Patent Oct. 21, 1975 III: 1

Sheet 2 of4 I FIG. 7.

US Patent Oct. 21, 1975 She et30f4 3,913,284

FIG. 2.

US. Patent 0a. 21, 1975 Sheet4 of4 3,913,284

' FIG. 4.

ROOF GUTTERING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to guttering for use on the edges of building roofs and the main object of the invention is to enable such guttering to be conveniently made from plastic extrusions.

2. Prior Art Difficulties arise in the use of plastic extrusions mainly because the material has a high co-efficient of expansion and as a result, tends to buckle or sag on hot days unless special arrangements are made for its support and jointing.

THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention consists of a roof gutter system comprising an extended plastic trough and an extruded plastic coupling, the trough and coupling being complementarily shaped such that an end portion of one may be entered longitudinally into an end portion of the other with their contiguous surfaces in close conformity each to each; the surfaces being shaped to interlock to prevent separation of the trough and coupling except in the longitudinal direction.

For preferance the trough end enters the coupling (that is to say the coupling is on the outside of the trough) and the outer surface of the trough has longitudinally extending ribs on it which interlock in complementary grooves in the inner surface of the coupling.

In practice three types of couplings are provided, namely a straight coupling for use between two troughs in a straight run of gutter and angled couplings for internal and external corners respectively.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS By way of example several embodiments of the invention are described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an external corner of a roof gutter built up from components of the system of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 drawn to a larger scale;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 1 drawn to a larger scale;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of a junction between two straight lengths of gutter utilizing a plain straight muff coupling;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a gutter length and ancillary components;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of a support bracket;

FIG. 7 is a rear view of the bracket of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-section of a gutter length held in place by the bracket of FIGS. 6 and 7.

Throughout the drawings like parts bear like reference numerals.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 illustrates a gutter corner comprising three troughs 11, 12 and 13, an external corner muff coupling 14, a straight muff coupling 15 furnished with a down-pipe affixture spigot 16 all secured to a roofrafter (not shown) by a bracket 17. Thus FIG. 1 illustrates a typical assembly of components of the system of the invention, those and other components being illustrated in more detail in the succeeding figures.

' grooves formed in its inner surface and is proportioned such that it is a snug fit about the trough with which it is engaged.

Thus each muff-coupler is able to connect two troughs together end to end while enabling end wise movement of the troughs to accommodate expansion and contraction thereof.

Both the troughs and couplings are extrusions of plastic material (the angled couplings being two lengths of extrusion mitred and welded each to each). Thus, they are of precise dimensions. This enables a closeness of fit between trough and coupling so that with a reasonable length of engagement between the two the joint is substantially water-tight.

However, if desired, one or the other component may be painted with a soft mastic to further water-proof the joint without interfering with expansion movement of the gutter relative to the mufif coupling. Alternatively, the gap between two troughs within a coupling may be filled with a mastic sheet 26 applied as a liner to the coupling with its edges abutting the end edges of the troughs to provide water-proofing.

Preferably each trough includes a groove 27 or recess in its outer surface extending longitudinally along its back wall near the bottom thereof which groove 27 is adapted to receive a soffit plate 28.

For preferance each trough has a downwardly directed internal hook flange 29' on its front wall 18 at the top edge and an internal recess 30 near the bottom of its back wall 20 extending longitudinally thereof, for engagement with the plastic or metal supporting bracket 17.

The bracket 17, as best seen in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, may be a short length of plastic extrusion comprising a main flange 31 adapted to engage the hook flange 29 and recess 30, an upright web 32 and a return flange 33. The web 32 and flange 33 may have screwdriver and screw clearance holes respectively formed in them to enable the bracket 17 to be affixed to the end of a rafter 34A.

Once the bracket 17 has been so fixed a trough such as 12 in FIG. 8 may be simply thrust into position with its rear wall 20 inserted between the web 32 and the return flange 33 to be retained in place by virtue of detents 34 on the return flange 33 engaging under the lower edges of the ribs 21 on the rear wall of the trough.

If desired dove-tailed ribs 35 may be provided extending along the upper edge of the front and rear walls of each trough adapted to engage with a dove-tailed groove in the bottom edge of a facia plate 36 which increases the apparent depth of the gutter. If desired muff coupler elements 37A may be provided to span joints between the facia plates 36. The facia plate 36 is itself provided at its top edge with a dove-tailed rib 38 which may engage with still another facia plate if desired or may itself engage within a dove-tailed recess 39 along the front and rear lower edges of the trough to provide an inwardly extending facia plate as maybe seen in FIG. 5. Each facia plate 36 is furnished with a groove 37 corresponding to groove 27 in the trough itself so as to locate a soffit panel. It will be realized by those skilled in the art that the ribs 35 and co-acting grooves in the facia plate may be reversed that is to say the ribs may equally well be on the facia plate and the grooves in the trough. It will be noted that the cross-section of the facia plates 36 correspond to that of portions of the trough; This enables the facia plates to be extruded by the same dies as are used for the troughs but with parts of the die orifice blanked off by fill-in pieces.

It is apparent that although I have described but one embodiment of the present invention many changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A roof gutter assembly comprising a trough member, said trough member having a front wall, a back wall and a floor joined to the lower edges of said front wall and said back wall; a tongue formed along the upper edge of said front wall; a facia plate having a recess being removably received in said recess, said tongue to thereby removably mount said facia plate to said front wall, said facia plate forming an upward extension of said front wall when mounted to said front wall; a recess formed along the lower edge of said front wall; a facia plate having a tongue, said recess receiving said tongue to removably mount said last mentioned facia plate to said front wall, said last mentioned facia plate forming a lower extension of said front wall when mounted to said front wall; and recess means formed in said back wall for receiving a soffit member.

2. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and including a soffit member removably carried in said recess means and extending outwardly from said back wall.

3. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and in which said last mentioned facia plate is provided with recess means, and a soffit member removably mounted in said recess means to extend away from said last mentioned ,facia plate parallel to said floor.

4. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and in which said first mentioned facia plate includes a tongue formed along its upper edge, said tongue being receivable in said recess along the lower edge of said front wall whereby said facia plate may be removably mounted to either the upper or the lower edge of said front wall.

5. A system according to claim 1 wherein the trough member has a downwardly directed internal hook flange extending longitudinally of its front wall at the top edge thereof and an internal recess extending longitudinally of its back wall adjacent the bottom thereof and a supporting bracket having portions engaging said flange and extending into said recess to support said trough member.

6. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and including a coupling, said trough and coupling being complementarily shaped such that an end portion of one may be entered longitudinally into an end portion of the other with their contiguous surfaces in close conformity each to each; said surfaces being shaped to interlock to prevent separation of the trough member and the coupling except in the longitudinal direction.

7. A system according to claim 6 wherein said surfaces are so shaped by means of dove-tailed ribs on one and complementary dove-tailed grooves in the other.

8. The assembly according to claim 6 wherein said coupling has a down-pipe spigot extending downwardly from it.

9. A system according to claim 6 wherein said coupling comprises two plastic extrusions joined end to end with one disposed at an angle relative to the other.

10. A system according to claim 6 wherein the trough member is inserted into the coupling.

11. A system according to claim 10 wherein a second trough is engaged with said coupling and wherein a mastic sheet is disposed within the coupling intermediate the ends of the two troughs members.

12. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and including means formed along the upper edge of said back wall for removably receiving a facia plate.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION g PATENT NO. 3,913,284

DATED October 21, 1975 INVENTOR(S) Marshall John Hall It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the front page of the patent insert:

Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 31, 1972 Australia l025/72 Signed and Sealed this tenth Day Of February 1976 [SEAL] Q Arrest.

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer Commissioner ufParenIs and Trademarks 

1. A roof gutter assembly comprising a trough member, said trough member having a front wall, a back wall and a floor joined to the lower edges of said front wall and said back wall; a tongue formed along the upper edge of said front wall; a facia plate having a recess being removably received in said recess, said tongue to thereby removably mount said facia plate to said front wall, said facia plate forming an upward extension of said front wall when mounted to said front wall; a recess formed along the lower edge of said front wall; a facia plate having a tongue, said recess receiving said tongue to removably mount said last mentioned facia plate to said front wall, said last mentioned facia plate forming a lower extension of said front wall when mounted to said front wall; and recess means formed in said back wall for receiving a soffit member.
 2. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and including a soffit member removably carried in said recess means and extending outwardly from said back wall.
 3. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and in which said last mentioned facia plate is provided with recess means, and a soffit member removably mounted in said recess means to extend away from said last mentioned facia plate parallel to said floor.
 4. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and in which said first mentioned facia plate includes a tongue formed along its upper edge, said tongue being receivable in said recess along the lower edge of said front wall whereby said facia plate may be removably mounted to either the upper or the lower edge of said front wall.
 5. A system according to claim 1 wherein the trough member has a downwardly directed internal hook flange extending longitudinally of its front wall at the top edge thereof and an internal recess extending longitudinally of its back wall adjacent the bottom thereof and a supporting bracket having portions engaging said flange and extending into said recess to support said trough member.
 6. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and including a coupling, said trough and coupling being complementarily shaped such that an end portion of one may be entered longitudinally into an end portion of the other with their contiguous surfaces in close conformity each to each; said surfaces being shaped to interlock to prevent separation of the trough member and the coupling except in the longitudinal direction.
 7. A system according to claim 6 wherein said surfaces are so shaped by means of dove-tailed ribs on one and complementary dove-tailed grooves in the other.
 8. The assembly according to claim 6 wherein said coupling has a down-pipe spigot extending downwardly from it.
 9. A system according to claim 6 wherein said coupling comprises two plastic extrusions joined end to end with one disposed at an angle relative to the other.
 10. A system according to claim 6 wherein the trough member is inserted into the coupling.
 11. A system according to claim 10 wherein a second trough is engaged with said coupling and wherein a mastic sheet is disposed within the coupling intermediate the ends of the two troughs members.
 12. The assembly as defined in claim 1 and including means formed along the upper edge of said back wall for removably receiving a facia plate. 